


Dual Inhabitance

by nekosmuse_archive (nekosmuse)



Category: Without a Trace
Genre: Crack, M/M, manny - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:55:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23601919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekosmuse/pseuds/nekosmuse_archive
Summary: Written pre 2005. Posting for archival purposes.It wasn't perfect, but it was something...(Portmanteaus had just become a thing. It took fandom a while to embrace them.)
Relationships: Martin Fitzgerald/Danny Taylor
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Dual Inhabitance

This is how the story begins.

Some years ago, a budding young physicist by the name of Andrei Sakharov first put forth his theory on dual inhabitance.

The theory went like this:

If the soul is composed of the smallest particles, and those particles move about within the body within the space between the body's atoms (being larger, and the void between them greater), then it is possible for one body to exist in the same space as another body.

Needless to say, Sakharov's theory was not widely accepted by the physics community at large.

In fact, within six months of the release of his publication, Sakharov was found hanging from a rafter in his modest St. Petersburg apartment, a silk scarf tied around his neck.

This is how the story ends.

After the initial fallout, after months of investigation, and after years of debate, the American Institute of Physics finally agreed that, maybe, Sakharov's theory did have potential after all.

~*~

Rochester, New York, July 18, 2007

"Danny, would you untie me already," Martin said, twisting in an effort to free himself.

Danny merely smirked and shook his head.

"You know the rules, Martin," he answered, taking a moment to admire Martin's naked form because, usually, Martin was too busy moving about for Danny to get a good look.

That was Martin, after all; constantly running in circles, caffeine having replaced his food addiction and Danny was just glad Martin had managed to make the switch before he clogged his arteries.

The downside, of course, was that Martin was usually vibrating too intensely to see properly and, as a result, was no longer able to distinguish between colours.

Hence the reason for Martin being naked, his fuchsia striped suit hidden beneath the bed because Danny could only tolerate it in limited doses.

"Okay, I promise. I'll switch to decaf, okay? Danny?"

And Martin sounded panicked now, though whether he was just desperate to get free, or needed his evening fix, Danny couldn't say.

"No deal," Danny replied, shaking his head. "I will let you go, on one condition," he continued, moving across the room to perch on the edge of Martin's bed, absently noting that the yellow sheets provided by the hotel matched Martin's socks.

"Anything, please," Martin agreed, struggling against the handcuffs that secured him to the headboard.

"I get a kiss," Danny answered, smirking knowingly, because there was no way Martin would agree, and that meant he wouldn't have to untie Martin, and that would make being trapped in Rochester for the night that much more enjoyable.

It was very difficult to sleep while Martin made forts out of his bedding on the other side of the room, after all.

"That's it, just a kiss? Okay, kiss me," Martin practically shouted, already eyeing the small coffee maker in the corner, tongue darting out to lick his lips and Danny sighed.

It was going to be a long night. On the plus side, though, he did get to kiss Martin.

~*~

The event wasn't covered by the local media, both the newspaper offices and the news broadcasting station having vaporised almost instantly.

Weeks later, though, reports would come out of the area, the name Ginna on everyone's tongue. Survivors would talk about a great white light, the smell of sulphur and the haze of ash that lasted three days.

Danny woke up face down on Martin's bed, handcuffs secure around his wrists and it had taken him two hours to fish the keys out of his pockets and unlock them.

He didn't know where Martin was.

~*~

"Any word, Sam?" Jack asked, pacing the length of the conference table, worry gnawing at his stomach --although that could have been his morning bagel and Jack made a mental note to never order from Frank's Deli again.

"Nothing yet. They were outside the blast radius, though; on the outskirts, so there's still a chance," Sam informed him, nervously chewing her nails, pausing only to spit out what she'd already chewed off before renewing her attack.

Jack grimaced and tried to remember her as the girl he once loved.

Not an easy task, Sam having sworn off men some years ago, deciding a life of celibacy was far easier and it was then that she stopped caring about her appearance. No make up he could handle, the stringy half brown, half blond hair, on the other hand…

"Jack, Jack!" Vivian cried from across the room, waving her cell phone above her head as she ran to meet him.

"It's someone claiming to be Danny, but I don't recognize his voice," Vivian exclaimed, handing Jack the phone.

"Jack here," Jack said into the receiver, trying to ignore the fact that Vivian was looking particularly buff today.

He was still a little afraid of her after she'd kicked his ass for suggesting she take some time off.

It was a reasonable suggestion, as far as he was concerned, given that she had just taken four bullets. Not that they seemed to stop her, Vivian still finding the energy to chase down two suspects, arrest them and then walk to emergency room to have the bullets removed.

"Jack, it's Danny. What the hell's going on? They won't let me come up," someone replied, the voice sounding slightly like Danny, and yet, there was something distinctly off about it.

"I'll take care of it," Jack replied, hitting disconnect before handing the phone back to Vivian, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Vivian, would you please call down and tell them to let whoever's down there up?" he asked, praying she wouldn't hear the slight quiver in his voice and decide he needed yet another lesson.

"Consider it done," Vivian replied, already dialing the security desk downstairs and Jack sighed in relief.

~*~

"Okay, this is just weird," Sam stated, squinting at the man standing before her.

"Very weird," Vivian agreed, brow creasing as she tried to absorb what she was seeing.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys? It's me, Danny. Now come on, we have to find Martin. Jack, have the NYPD search all the local Starbucks. Sam… what?" Danny trailed off, wondering why everyone was staring at him rather than springing into action.

He'd already spent the better part of the morning searching what was left of Rochester, but upon not finding Martin, he'd assumed Martin had made his way back to New York on his own, possibly assuming ditching Danny was the only way he was going to be able to get out of his promise to switch to decaf.

"Um, Danny? Is it? Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Jack asked, scratching his head, the man before him looking only slightly like Danny.

In fact, if Jack didn't know any better, he'd swear the man he was talking to was the secret love child of Danny and Martin: height about half way in between, hair a lighter shade of brown, eyes speckled with brown and blue, skin too pale for Danny, too dark for Martin.

"A mirror?" Danny questioned, trying not to panic because Martin was missing and he didn't even get his kiss.

"Yeah, a mirror," Jack replied.

"Oooh, I have one, maybe," Sam exclaimed, dashing over to her desk, rooting through her drawer before producing a small compact mirror.

"Here you go," she said upon returning, handing it over.

And this was… not right. Not even close, the face staring back at him decidedly strange and Danny had to fight against the urge to eyefuck his reflection.

And wait a minute, eyefuck…

"Oh my God. Don't you see? I'm Martin. I'm Danny. We're…. oh God…"

Physically, he'd say it was impossible, but it was the only explanation, the two of them somehow merging into one, becoming one in the same. Danny felt slightly faint.

"The explosion. I bet that's what happened," Vivian mused, noting everyone's blank stares before continuing. "The radiation, for the core reactor accident at Ginna. It must have somehow merged their molecules, made them into one person," she explained.

Jack scratched his head. Sam chewed her nails. Danny stared blankly at his reflection and thought about going home to masturbate.

"It's not rocket science, people," Vivian said, tone exasperated and how she managed to work with these people day in and day out without killing them was somewhat of a mystery.

"Actually, I think it is. Or maybe nuclear science," Jack replied, still scratching his head.

"No, it's biology, or maybe quantum physics," Sam voiced, wondering if Danny now shared Martin's memories, if he knew about all the times Martin had made her dress up in suits and ties and called her Danny.

Giving up men was the best decision she'd ever made.

"It's… something, anyway," Danny said, running his thumb over his bottom lip and shivering. "Something."

"Wait, what the hell do we call you?" Sam asked, frowning again, tilting her head in examination.

"Well that, at least, should be obvious," Vivian replied, rolling her eyes, making a mental note to kick all their asses for being idiots. "He's Manny," she said upon receiving more blank stares.

"Yeah, Manny, that's good. Okay, I'll have a new ID badge made up. Sam, you call some scientists, see if we can't, you know, unmerge them, Vivian… you… um, that is, if you want, um, you could see about talking to payroll. I'm sure the Bureau won't want them getting two salaries," Jack ordered before slipping away, pondering the logistics of a stiff drink at nine o'clock in the morning.

And so it was. Sam eventually realized that giving up men wasn't necessarily the best course of action. She hit it off with one of the scientists, eventually marrying him, becoming Mrs. Samantha Kruger, which was only slightly better than Spade. Jack took up drinking, the only way he could handle watching Manny flirt with himself on a daily basis. Vivian eventually took over the team, something she'd been plotting since day one.

Manny, well, Manny remained Manny, the physics community unable to undo the damage caused by the explosion at Ginna. He was pretty happy, though, spending his nights cuddling with himself at home, spending his days watching his own back at work. On weekends he altered between visiting his brother and nephew, and visiting his parents and sister. Eventually, he forgot all about Martin, and Danny, but more importantly, he learned to love himself, truly and completely in a way he never had before.

It wasn't perfect, but it was something.


End file.
